EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point Visitor Centre has won a top company award for the service it provides to local people and those travelling from further afield.

The team regularly answers queries about energy bills and tariffs, recruitment inquiries and calls about visiting both Hinkley Point B and Hinkley Point C.

Since it opened in December 2012, more than 60,000 people have been through the doors of the centre, which is based at the Angel Place Shopping Centre in Bridgwater town centre.

The team’s commitment and hard work was recognised at EDF Energy’s Generation Performance Innovation Awards, with the visitor centre beating tough competition to win the Community Champion Innovation Award.

Sherryl Sellick, visitor centre co-ordinator, who was joined by colleagues to collect the award, said: “We’re very much a one-stop shop for all sorts of inquiries.
“As well as promoting our nuclear generation, nuclear new build and renewables activities, we also have a weekly customer services expert who calls in, all of which has helped to make the centre a focus for EDF Energy inquiries in the county.”
She said tours of Hinkley Point B have been extremely popular and since the centre opened, more than 11,000 people have visited the power station.
Of those, 50 per cent have travelled more than 40 miles for the experience. 

The team has also started hosting site tours to Hinkley Point C and so far more than 500 people have taken a tour around the construction site. 

During the last four years the team has dealt with more than 4,000 customer service enquiries relating to electricity bills and tariffs as well as more than 3,500 recruitment enquiries.

In addition, the team holds charity fundraising events and has partnered with the Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) to regularly host basic computer skills training courses where the local community can improve their employability skills.

It also plays a prominent role in the delivery of the Hinkley Point C Inspire education programme which encourages young people to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects in order to make the most of the opportunities from the new power station.
The team also hosts ‘exploring electricity’ tours of Hinkley Point B power station and runs workshops in schools for Key Stage 2 school pupils.